Reversed Roles
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Ulquiorra was dying. Turning to ash before Orihime's very eyes. She saved his life, but now he was a prisoner in the Seireitei. But Orihime was not going to let her friend suffer through that alone. Not when he needed a helping hand.


**Bleach Oneshot**

**Reversed Roles**

**Angst/Friendship**

**Ulquiorra/Orihime**

**Ulquiorra was dying. Turning to ash before Orihime's very eyes. She saved his life, but now he was a prisoner in the Seireitei. But Orihime was not going to let her friend suffer through that alone. Not when he needed a helping hand.**

**(I do not own Bleach. If I did, then that would mean that I held claim to one of the coolest Arrancar in the entirety of the anime world and I would have hated myself for killing him.)**

* * *

Reversed Roles

* * *

"Do I frighten you...Girl?" Ulquiorra asked, slowly stretching his arm out towards her. He hadn't the understanding to figure out why he had chosen to do such a thing, but he did not force himself to remain still. Not when he had nothing to lose, his own flesh and blood turning into ash in the wind.

Orihime paused for a second or two. Then she shook her head. "No," she answered. "No, you don't."

She answered with such firmness and confidence, Ulquiorra was almost tempted to smile.

Such emotions. Were they what humans called a 'heart?'

The girl that had once been his prisoner reached out her hand to respond to him, but his fingers quickly turned into dust, his arm following close behind.

"Ulquiorra-kun!" Orihime exclaimed.

By the time she had let out her cry, even his shoulders were beginning to fade along with his strength.

No. He couldn't die. Not after he protected both her and Uryu from Ichigo like that.

Not after he'd finally become their friend.

That's what she believed anyway.

But Ulquiorra thought differently.

He finally found his answer to the 'heart.' That was his only question in the world that hadn't been answered. If he had any regrets, it would have been that he didn't get to finish his fight with Ichigo.

And...that he didn't get a chance to get to know the girl better.

His eyes closed, everything around him becoming white, like his skin and hollowfied self.

"_Soten Kishun!"_

* * *

Confusion swept through him. What had happened to him? For some reason, he felt his strength returning, not draining like it should have.

Why, he wondered? Why did he not feel like he was dying? He most certainly should have been feeling that way. He'd experienced death before as a human, though he could scarcely remember that day. Why should death as an Arrancar be any less?

"_Ulquiorra-kun! Ulquiorra-kun!_"

That voice. He recognized it. And the way his name was being said.

He knew who was speaking to him, but her name could not come to his lips. Unsurprising. He never saw fit to say her name before either, though he knew that she would not have wanted it; an enemy speaking her name so casually.

Slowly, his eyes opened up, allowing him to see the stars twinkling overhead.

He wasn't dead. Strange.

"How am I still alive?" he thought to himself. "And...why is the sky...such a strange color?"

"It's about time you woke up."

That voice.

He knew it.

It was the voice of the Soul Reaper he'd been fighting earlier.

Kurosaki.

He turned towards the source of his voice, then stopped. Ichigo was looking down at him, his body surrounded by a strange orange glow.

"Kurosaki," Ulquiorra said under his breath. "What is going on?"

"You should probably ask Orihime," Ichigo said, looking up a little bit, as he was sitting down. "She's been healing you ever since you passed out."

Ulquiorra followed with his eyes. His body felt far too numb to do much of anything else.

Orihime Inoue.

True to Ichigo's words, she was standing right in front of him, her Shun Shun Rikka all busy healing him.

The picture was slowly becoming clear.

The sky was such an odd color...and Ichigo himself was glowing bright orange not because of some strange human reason.

But because Ulquiorra was within the confines of the Soten Kishun.

She was healing her enemy. Orihime Inoue was healing the very person who had caused her such heartache.

Why?

Ulquiorra's words could no longer come to his lips so he could have answers. They felt too far away for that to happen. So instead of that, he forced his arm to move again, raising his hand above his head.

He wasn't in his Released form anymore.

His white torn up sleeves were all the evidence he needed to support that theory.

He'd been returned to his initial Arrancar form, his zanpakuto having long since returned to its original form.

"Thank goodness," Orihime breathed with a smile. "I'm glad you're alright, Ulquiorra-kun."

"She's glad?" Ulquiorra thought curiously. "Why...? Why would she be glad that I am alive? W...hy...?"

With that one thought, his consciousness faded and his green eyes closed as he drifted into slumber.

Orihime could only smile.

Ulquiorra looked amazingly adorable when he was asleep.

Almost like a little boy.

* * *

The war had ended. Aizen was captured and given his sentence. The Arrancar from the Battle of Karakura were all dead, giving the Soul Reapers the victory.

A victory, but at a heavy price.

Ichigo's power as a Soul Reaper were gone forever. The Captains themselves were terribly injured, forcing most of them to their beds until their injuries had healed.

Fortunately for the Soul Reapers, they had Orihime Inoue on their side. She was more than happy to help them in their time of need.

Not only did she feel partially responsible for what had happened during the war, she had someone she wanted to help out in the Soul Society.

Someone that had become a prisoner of war.

* * *

Ulquiorra remained still in his cell at Squad Four. His injuries were treated and bandaged, his strength slowly returning to him as a result. However, just as Orihime before, he felt like the prisoner he was and refused to do little more than remain still in his chair, his arms folded across his chest.

"Hello, Ulquiorra-kun," a voice said.

The Arrancar twitched, but otherwise, remained still.

Orihime Inoue.

That marked her 13th visit since he was imprisoned by the Soul Reapers.

"How are you feeling today, Ulquiorra-kun?" Orihime asked. "I've brought some food for you."

"You needn't have done that," Ulquiorra responded, refusing to turn to face her. "I am not hungry."

Orihime's shoulders sagged, but she didn't let him see it. With a sigh, she set the plate on his bed and walked over to him. "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Ulquiorra responded. "You don't have to stay here and care for me. My injuries are no longer life threatening."

Orihime smiled sadly. "I know," she said. "But, still, you were there when I was a prisoner at Hueco Mundo. It's only right that I help you out."

"If I remember correctly, you were **my** prisoner," Ulquiorra said. "You should have no reason to desire to help me."

The young girl then bent down before him, her fingers wrapping around one of his hands.

"I want to help you," she said, "because you helped me before."

That prompted Ulquiorra to look at her.

Orihime Inoue.

Did she always look so pretty when she looked at him?

He wasn't fairly certain. Before, she made it a habit to not even smile when he was in the same room.

"When Kurosaki-kun was going to hurt Ishida-kun, you attacked him to protect us, didn't you?" Orihime asked.

Ulquiorra froze.

"Why did you protect us?"

The Arrancar didn't answer for a minute or two.

For a second, Orihime wondered if he was going to answer at all.

"I don't know."

Not the answer she was expecting.

Not in the least.

"Does it even matter why I saved you?" Ulquiorra continued. "It's not important any longer."

"It is if you saved us because you became our friend!" Orihime said, raising her voice slightly, catching the Espada off guard.

Brief silence ensued.

"Friend?" he asked monotonously. "What is that? Is it something like a heart?"

Orihime's eyes widened slightly. Then her expression softened as a smile formed on her features.

Her answer was faint, but Ulquiorra was able to pick it up just fine.

"Yep."

Slowly, the Espada turned towards his window.

The very same kind of window that Orihime had no doubt looked through when she was his prisoner.

"I see," he breathed, gently accepting Orihime's hand into his own.

"Then...that which was in my hand before," he thought. "When she reached out to me...and told me she was not afraid of me. Was that...a 'Heart?' And...the hand that I hold in my palm now... Is that...the hand of 'friendship?'"

"Thank you, then...Girl."

"Orihime."

Ulquiorra turned his head back towards Orihime.

"What?" he asked curiously.

"Call me Orihime," the young girl said, placing her other hand on top of his own pale one. "Okay, Ulquiorra-kun?"

Ulquiorra looked at her for a second with a stunned expression.

Then his face softened up again.

"Very well," he said, "Orihime-san."

That brought a smile to Orihime's face.

Sure enough, what Ulquiorra held in his hand was indeed a 'heart.'

A heart that was born from the kindness and strength he felt from that young girl.

For now, he was a prisoner of the Soul Reapers, but his 'heart' was being taken care of by the fair damsel before him.

...Maybe that was what humans called 'friendship.'

* * *

**D.T.B: UlquiHime friendly fluff. I have just written UlquiHime friendly fluff! Not HistuKarin! ULQUIHIME! XD**

**Sirius: She's gone into overload.**

**Lyra: Oh, dear me.**

**Toshiro: What is with her?**

**Ulquiorra: I don't know, but she seems to be laughing for absolutely no reason. Strange.**

**D.T.B: No. Review! XD**


End file.
